ASLS people did a great job, we have finished a very well organized conference thanks to Mihaela and her friends. And how hospitable they were! Among the people I met, Onnik (Armenia) and Jacop (Poland) has to be mentioned particularly but I was also excited to meet people from Azerbaijan (Emin and Parvana) and Georgia (especially Dodie!). Although Turkey is very close to Azerbaijan through national ties and all, I don’t think I have had made any intelligible conversation with any Azeris before.So this was the first time. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that there is LIVE free coverage at the moment. We are notified that Azeri bloggers are actually sentenced today:(

Our session begins now… Online journalism…

Last updated: 16:30

Pre-conference notes. It is very likely that I will not able to see Bucharest at all. Except the route from the hotel to the Parliament Palace. We stay all day in the conference hall. I don’t really mind though. If only I could get the Romanian dailies to add to my newspaper collection, my mission will be completed:)

Pork is very dominant in Romanian food. That means I am a little malnourished in terms of proteins (!) Well, I don’t eat pork. A Turkish hypocricy. I consume alcohol but not pork. Anyway, the conference is about to start… Today I am presenting sometime between 14-16. Today there seems to be a shift in focus: more about what can be done with blogging politically and financially then dealing with oppressive regimes…

Erkan decides to be think more about microblogging. This conference turns out to have main focus on microblogging.

Ramon Stoppelenburg narrates his story. He says any innovative move in internet will win… Boy, it is such a story. Who is this crazy dutch guy? Check out the links below:

The Dutch Ramon Stoppelenburg (1976) started blogging from his student loft somewhere in 1998. But he became world famous for being the first ever person to travel the world for free, totally relying on the hospitality of strangers from all over the world, who invited him over through his website www.letmestayforaday.com. Over 3,577 people from 72 countries invited him over and from 2001 to 2003 he travelled through 18 countries in total, varying from Norway to South Africa and from Australia to Canada. In return for the offered hospitality he received, he wrote extensive daily reports about his whereabouts, his hosts, their life and the culture of the country he was visiting. His website had once processed over 1,2 million visits in one month. The British Sunday Times even called him the Internet Personality of the Year 2001.

After a hectic day yesterday, I got the visa, flew to Bucharest, attended the welcome party and now I am getting ready for the Forum to start with a little hangover….Well, a clerk in the consulate makes such a difference. Because Mihaela wanted my try again, I went back to consulate yesterday and they issued the visa in a few hours… Funny… Anyway,

More to tell soon but let me note that I finally met with Onnik Krikorian with whom I have been in touch for more than two years and we finally met offline. A funny, easy going and resourceful blogger/journalist.

Onnik Krikorian is a journalist, photojournalist and blogger from the United Kingdom based in Yerevan, Armenia, for the past 11 years. In addition to writing and photographing for the mainstream traditional media, as well as working with outlets such as the BBC, Al Jazeera English, and The Wall Street Journal, he has been blogging since 2005 and is the Caucasus regional editor for Global Voices Online.